New Workshop - Managment Advice 1

[CIRHS]

Hi Gents and Ladies.

I am looking for some advice.

I am going to be Managing an Instrumentation and Control Center for my company here in Dubai. The budget has been approved and now its time to get everything planed and have it running smoothly.

From a management point of view I would like to get advice on the following.

Should I treat each order as a mini project? Lot of components in instrumentation.

What would be the best way to keep track of orders and their status? (for eg. when we have all components for an instrumentation panel sub-assembly to get it assembled ready for other components and not wait till all parts arrive)

Any software recommendations for managing orders and work-flow?

I was thinking of using Excel as a Master Order Index and separate every order into individual components and sub assemblies like a Nested BOM with top level being the customer order no. And once the order is complete delete it from the incomplete sheet and move it to complete sheet to have a record. Not sure if this is the best way to go.

As you instrumentation engineers know there is a bucket load of components that go into just a simple instrumentation panel and most of the time each customer has their own specs so you have to buy most components.

I would love to use something like Microsoft project so that I can see the a work flowchart/load for the workshop employees, be able to give more realistic delivery dates on quotations and report what stage the job is at when the customer calls. Not sure if its an over kill.

Thanks in advance hope it makes sense. Any comments welcome.

 

[KENAT]

Any thoughts of using a proper ERP software to help you?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[CIRHS]

Yeah I had a talk to my It Manager about using our existing oracle system but that will just be a nightmare for him. Plus it seems that we will be switching from oracle in a few years so its not worth the time to configure it for this.

Any other suggestions please.

 

[ntweisen]

I've posted a few project management spreadsheet templates on my Excel help blog: (

http://tinyurl.com/89283ue)

(

http://tinyurl.com/77p39l2)

(

http://tinyurl.com/7hyfhf2)

http://excelspreadsheetshelp.blogspot.com

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http://scripting4v5.com

 

[CIRHS]

@ ntweisen
Thanks for your thought. But I cant download what you posted as I am required to enter either my mobile number which then will automatically goes on a subscription plan of some sort. Not sure if this is against Posting Policies.

If you would like to help please attach excel files on the forum so others can benefit as well.

Any other suggestions?

 

[imagitec]

My old standby is Parts&Vendors from Trilogy Design. You'll be much happier using even the basic $99 version than you will using Excel spreadsheets. I've used it successfully with teams developing new capital equipment with budgets in excess of $1 million - complete BOM management; purchased parts, fab parts, and assemblies; design, order, and build.

P&V is a relational database, so more than one person can work in it at once & it avoids data duplication inherent in spreadsheet based systems (e.g., what is the master copy of the data for that strain gage, which is used on nine diffent kits or assemblies?). Even the base version has rudimentary inventory & kitting systems. And custom fields can be used to track items as they move from design to detailing to ordering to receipt, for example.

The $395 EX version of P&V provides a real, more capable system for the procurement process (RFQs, POs, etc.).

But I think I'll manage my next large design/build project with Aligni, an online service being marketed directly at P&V users. The quoting, purchasing, and inventory features take it to the next level.

 

[ntweisen]

Sorry about that! Attached is a copy of my personal project/business tracking spreadsheet. I'll have to upload my other project management templates later.

http://excelspreadsheetshelp.blogspot.com

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http://scripting4v5.com

 

[CIRHS]

@ntweisen

Thank you very much. Looking forward to you other templates.

Have a great Easter.